Back Alley barbecue owner takes his business back home to Pennsauken

Grill chef Ron Jones grabs a rib rack and chicken after they sizzle-cooked in his outdoor grill smoker at Back Alley Barbeque restaurant and take-out, which has relocated to Haddonfield Road in Pennsauken from Columbus Farmers Market in Burlington County(Photo: Carol Comegno/Staff Photographer)Buy Photo

PENNSAUKEN - Back Alley Barbeque has an off-the-beaten-track name, but customers need not search for some hidden alleyway to find it.

In taking his Back Alley Barbeque back home to Pennsauken from his Columbus Farmers Market spot, owner Ron Jones has picked a highly visible location fronting on Haddonfield Road just around a bend from the former Pennsauken Mart site.

Drivers may miss his tiny house-like bungalow restaurant building in the rear of 2591 Haddonfield Road, but when the business opens Thursday they are bound to catch sight — and smell — of the trail of smoke escaping the long black grill smoker in the front yard.

"I'm specializing in barbecue. I will feed you, you will be full, you will enjoy and you'll want to come back," Jones said, alluding to his many repeat customers over the years.

In the future Back Alley may introduce a Friday fish fry.

"If I do, I'll get it fresh and cleaned from the docks in Philly," he said.

A splashier grand opening will be sometime after July 4.

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Ron Jones tends to ribs and chicken on his smoker grill at Back Alley Barbeque, which opens Thursday in Pennsauken. A grand opening is set for sometime in July.(Photo: Carol Comegno/Staff Photographer)

Jones says he has two secrets to his business.

"My secrets are my recipes and my custom-made smoker that is one of a kind," he explained.

In fact, he never leaves his professional barbecue smoker unattended at the restaurant when it's closed. Instead, he trailers his bread-and-butter piece of equipment back and forth with him.

In the propane-powered smoker he grills chicken, pork ribs and brisket and also heats his macaroni and cheese, string beans, collard greens and baked beans. Recipes for those side dishes and for his mildly spiced barbecue sauce came from his mother.

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Until a permanent sign is erected this temporary banner along Haddonfield-Berlin Road in Pennsauken advertises the new Back Alley Barbeque operated by a local resident(Photo: Carol Comegno/Staff Photographer)

Jones is well known not only from the Columbus market, where he was outside with no storefront four days a week until May, but at Rutgers University football games. He also has been an outdoor vendor in Philadelphia and at Piscataway Township events such as its July 4 celebration.

On a recent day when he was conducting a grilling test, a former Columbus customer happened upon the new location.

"We were driving from our church around the corner at Christian Living Center and smelled the food, which drew us here," said Andrea Gladden of Burlington City, who came with husband Darryl.

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Racks of pork ribs sizzle and smoke at Back Alley Barbeque, which opened this week in Pennsauken(Photo: Carol Comegno//Staff Photographer)

The grill chef hopes for a booming take-out business like he had at Columbus and elsewhere as an outside event vendor, but the Pennsauken location is the first brick-and-mortar location for the 62-year-old Jones. "I guess it's never too late to start one, " he joked.

Inside the modest bungalow are a dozen tables with red-and-white-checkered tablecloths, a counter with a half-dozen seats, antique-looking ceiling fans and a kitchen, where his wife and an employee will help out.

About six years ago he said he set up a tent and a barbecue grill in his driveway and started selling ribs and chicken but soon found out that was illegal.

Ron Jones waits for customers in front of Back Alley Barbeque in Pennsauken. This is the first restaurant for Jones, who has been an outdoor vendor in the region.(Photo: Carol Comegno)

"So we closed and I became a vendor in Philadelphia through the licensing process. Then I moved a short time later to Columbus Farmers Market."

Jones recalled learning the art of grilling in his parent's yard in Trenton and credits his parents with making him learn how to cook and grill.

"I didn't want to do it at first and burned my share of chicken, but over the years of practice I came to love it," he admitted.